2005 U of M Research Progress Report

University of Minnesota Small Grains Research Initiative Update

Bridging cereal disease research advances

Introduction by Carol Ishimaru,
Department of Plant Pathology, University of Minnesota

Crop research is tricky business.  Personnel, equipment, research methods, timing, and intangibles like weather can all affect data.  Then there’s the process of obtaining research funding, which can be half the battle. Adequate funding for a research idea requires much thought and persistence, and often requires multiple sources.

On one end of the funding spectrum is commodity-based support, which focuses on near-term gains and short-term (1-2 year) projects. On the other, is federal support for projects with mid- or longer-term gains and somewhat longer terms budgets (2-4 years).

In the case of plant disease research at the University of Minnesota, federal programs supportive of cereal disease research include the U.S. Wheat & Barley Scab Initiative (USWBSI), USDA Special Research Grant programs, and the USDA/CSREES National Research Initiative.  Somewhere in the middle, between national and commodity-based programs, are state appropriated programs, like the Minnesota Small Grains Initiative. For a variety of reasons, these state appropriated funds are playing an even greater role in the overall success of agricultural research in Minnesota.

As a research plant pathologist, I am very familiar with the situation facing many of my colleagues at the University of Minnesota.  I’ve experienced first hand being turned down for funding for projects that appeared too “basic” and received low priority for funding through commodity check-offs.  On the flip side, these same research objectives might appear too preliminary, short term, or risky for national funding. 

I am not alone.  Presently, less than 10% of plant disease research proposals submitted to USDA NRI are funded.  At this low funding rate, even proposals rated as outstanding can’t be guaranteed funding. Adding to this, over the past 10 years, the trend is to fund multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional grants and contracts. These require larger budgets and reduce the number of proposals funded.

Along with shifts in federal funding for research, state support for higher education in Minnesota has declined over the past three decades. This has resulted in a downsizing of most departments conducting agricultural research.  Both extension and research efforts are strained. Gone are the days when agricultural research scientists at the University could rely on the Agricultural Experiment Station to provide support for staffing and graduate students.  More and more, scientists rely on competitive research grants to support their programs.  Grants fund salaries for staffing and students, materials and supplies, and greenhouse and field space. 

From a commodity view, research needs are a moving target. What might be “the” disease one growing season can soon become less of an issue another, and drop off an industry’s priority list. In this financial climate the question becomes: how can the research community continue to meet grower’s shorter term needs and build programs that offer longer term payoffs for growers and the environment?

One way is through what I refer to as “bridging” programs, which support innovative projects focused on specific topics. The Minnesota Small Grains Research Initiative (MNSGRI) is a perfect example of a program that leads to research on short and mid-term goals, and at the same time provides outcomes for leveraging dollars at the national level. This state special provides funding for cutting edge research on wheat and barley.  Its original intent was to support scab disease research, but over the past couple of years the scope has broadened and it now funds projects on other grain diseases as well.

The following report showcases some of the outstanding research from the University of Minnesota and funded by the MNSGRI.  What might not be apparent, and needs to be stated, is that this initiative has resulted in extensive interactions between plant breeders, plant pathologists and plant geneticists at the University. This coordination makes the best use of limited resources. Disease screening methods developed by one program are widely shared with others. Genetic sources of disease resistance identified by one project are being turned over to other scientists for genetic mapping.  Once genetic maps have been made, they are used in wheat and barley breeding programs.

Another offshoot of this increased coordination among researchers is that U of M scientists have succeeded in leveraging results from MNSGRI-funded research to obtain funding from some of the most competitive federal grant programs. Their success leads to even greater resources being made available to address disease problems in small grains.

The MNSGRI plays an important role in the overall funding picture for small grains research. We at the University are very appreciative of the many efforts by wheat and barley producers in Minnesota to establish the MNSGRI. Thank you for this bridge in research funding – a bridge that ultimately leads us forward on the path toward cereal disease research advances. 

Dr. Carol Ishimaru joined the University of Minnesota Department of Plant Pathology on Nov. 1, 2004 as the Department Head, replacing Frank Pfleger, who retired and joined the ranks of emeritus faculty. Before joining the faculty at the U of M, Ishimaru conducted research at the Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management at Colorado State University. She continues research on bacterial genomics at the U of M. 

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